Housing development boosted by crowdfunding efforts

A housing development in Greater Manchester has secured a cash injection of more than £1m through a crowdfunding platform.

The House Crowd was founded in 2012 by Frazer Fearnhead and Suhail Nawaz. It was the first property crowdfunding platform in the world and has helped give rise to the industry.

Over a period of 24 hours, £1.3m was raised with the majority going towards the Egyptian Mill Development in Lees, which comprises 41 houses and 15 apartments. House Crowd Developments – which is part of the House Crowd Group of companies – is behind the initiative.

The rest of the balance – £98,000 – was invested in the House Crowd’s Innovative Finance ISA, which allows individuals to use their annual ISA allowance to lend funds through property investment, while receiving the benefits of tax-free interest.

Fearnhead said: “Raising £1m in a single day is not just a confidence boost for The House Crowd and the service that we offer, but also for housing developments in the North West. The numbers don’t lie – there is clearly a big appetite amongst retail investors for property development financing and peer to peer secured lending, which is exactly what we offer.

“It’s important that we keep up this momentum to continue helping solve two of the major problems within our society – the lack of quality housing and people’s difficulties in saving their money.

“If we can continue building much needed housing, whilst providing our members with a reliable way to build a nest egg for their retirement, then we are serving our purpose.”